


The First Winter

by Lipstickcat



Series: Eerie Advent Calendar [4]
Category: Eerie Indiana
Genre: Advent Calendar, Gen, Prompt Fill, eerie advent calendar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-04
Packaged: 2018-05-04 21:38:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5349464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lipstickcat/pseuds/Lipstickcat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Day four of the Eerie Advent Calendar. For the prompt "Winter Chill"</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First Winter

It's the first winter that's the hardest. 

There's no-one in the world that has a normal home of their own to go back to at night that can understand how the wind cuts through you in the depths of December. In the darkness of night the air seeps through the thin layers of cotton, each fine hole filtering icy needles to prickle Dash's skin. 

And the shivering; his body juddering so hard as he pulls his scratchy pile of blankets over his head, the creaky wooden floor beneath him like a mortuary slab. He knows its dumb, but Dash doesn't think he can even remember what it's like to be warm any longer. He's tired from lack of sleep and pretty sure that soon he won't have the energy to shiver any more. 

There's less food to be found in the trashcans outside of buildings, less waste at this time of year; everyone eats to fatten themselves up. It's nature. But not for Dash. Nature doesn't want those layers of fat to build up on Dash. Nature doesn't want Dash to see spring it seems. 

Its a bit of a waste of life, he thinks. He's had, what? Six months of memorable life? Why bother? Maybe he's just an unwanted reject. 

He tried as well, he really did try. He tried to make a fire, but the wood was all damp. He couldn't even burn the mill down, just to feel heat that one more time. And he tried to eat berries, but they made him sick and emptied his stomach further. 

He's just a fifteen year old kid. What did the universe really expect from him? 

It's late, he thinks, when he pulls himself out from under the covers and leaves them in a stiff, half frozen pile. It's dark at least, and the sky is endless; black and mottled with stars as he trudges blindly into town. The ice on the road shimmers and all he can think about is how his toes are numb. Maybe he can try the dumpster behind the Chinese restaurant. Maybe he'll get lucky and some spoilt jerk won't want a doggie bag when they're full. 

The light is on at the World O' Stuff. Maybe it's not as late as he thinks, but there's no one else around. All back and cozy in their nice warm houses he guesses. So maybe he'll try to lift some bread, maybe some cheese and milk too. His stomach gurgles at the thought and it hurts both physically and mentally to imagine something actually in it. 

Of course, the trouble with town being quiet is that it's impossible to sneak into the shop and start 'browsing' unnoticed. Radford appears by his side before Dash can even get to the produce section. 

"Here. Try this. I'm experimenting with hot drinks," the shopkeeper tells him as he presses a mug into Dash's hands. There's a rich chocolately smell wafting up past the dollop of cream and marshmallows, and his stomach flips. 

His nose is pressed into the cream and he's gulping it down before he even has a moment to consider whether he would be expected to pay for it afterwards. Screw it. He can try to run, although his legs are close to giving up on him. 

"It's good." Dash looks up at Radford, cream smeared over the tip of his nose and the top of his lip. His eyes are big and he's close to doing an Oliver Twist impression as he feels the warmth sinking into the core of his body and slowly spreading out from inside. 

He barely registers that there was nothing different or experimental about the hot chocolate he just inhaled. 

"Good? Good. Come, sit down." Radford whisks the mug out of his hands in one move, and steers him towards the seats in another. "I need a guinea pig, I mean, you. I'm trying some new toasted sandwiches..."

Dash eats a stack of cheese and ham toasted sandwiches, and washes them down with another hot chocolate. Finally, his brain is waking up, too, and he's preparing to tell Radford that food testers don't pay for the food they have forced upon them. Maybe he'll even ask to be paid for his services, he thinks as Radford brings him a 'highly experimental' slice of apple pie. 

Outside under the streetlamps there is a flurry of sudden snowfall. It's appeared from nowhere, although its not really surprising, given the cold. There's already a layer of snow settling on the ground. Walking back will be icy and wet with the holes in Dash's boots. 

"Will you look at that?" Radford stands in front of the window, his hands on his hips. "Beautiful. But I pity any creature that has to sleep out in that tonight." 

Dash glares at the snow. He doesn't see beauty in it. Instead, he can feel the warm, full feeling inside beginning to ebb away already just looking at it. 

"I think it might get worse." Radford turns back to Dash. "I can't let you walk back home in this. What would your parents think of me?"

Before Dash can open his mouth to reply, he carries on. "You could sleep in the basement. It's not the Ritz, but there's blankets down there and a heater. It's comfortable, trust me, I know." 

No one with a normal home could understand the cold, but in Eerie there are plenty that have been forced to call other places home for a period of time. 

They understand. 

***


End file.
